Labels

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Washington is really coming on strong........just a small sampling of what we have in stock at Forsyth...

2007 Andrew Will “Sorella”….$68.99Andrew Wills' flagship wine is called Sorella; the 2007 Sorella, sourced entirely from the Champoux Vineyard, one of Washington's finest sites, is made up of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, 10% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. Aromas of toasty oak, espresso, Asian spices, incense, black currant, and blackberry lead to a firmly structured wine with impeccable balance and serious aging potential. This pleasure-bent offering will offer a drinking window extending from 2016 to 2032, perhaps longer"Rated 96/100 The Wine Advocate

2006 Seven Hills Pentad….$43.99Rich, ripe and complex, this has a delicious tug-of-war going on in the mouth, playing generous blueberry and currant fruit against hints of crème brûlée, sage and white pepper. A hint of roasted meat adds interest to the long finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Carmenère, Cabernet Franc and Malbec. Drink now through 2016. 343 cases made. –HSRated 93/100 The Wine Spectator

2007 Andrew Will “Champoux"....$57.99The 2007 Champoux Vineyard is a bit more deeply colored. A blend of 52% Cabernet Franc, 21% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Petit Verdot, it is also denser, richer, more plush, and longer in the finish. Give it 4-6 years of additional cellaring and drink it from 2014 to 2027.Rated 95/100 The Wine Advocate

2006 L’Ecole 41 Apogee....$43.99

The 2006 Apogee Pepper Bridge Vineyard is 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 8% Malbec, and 4% Cabernet Franc. A saturated purple color, it has a brooding nose of sandalwood, pencil lead, spice box, and assorted black fruits. It is the most concentrated, complex, and intense of the L’Ecole reds with darker, layered fruit and greater aging potential. Drink this superb effort between 2015 and 2031.Rated 94/100 The Wine Advocate

2006 L’Ecole Perigee....$37.99The 2006 Perigee Seven Hills Vineyard is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. Dark ruby/purple-colored, it has an alluring perfume of pain grille, pencil lead, mineral, violets, black currant, and blackberry liqueur. Elegant and seamless on the palate, it has superb depth, concentration, and incipient complexity. Give it 5-7 years and drink it from 2013 to 2026.Rated 93/100 The Wine Advocate

Join us each Saturday at our Cheese Counter and taste the weekly pick of a cheese paired with a wine and a beer*. Each Saturday we will feature a cheese in our award winning cheese department at all 3 TWCP locations and have a wine and beer to taste that we feel is a great match.

It will be fun and informal just come in for a taste at the Cheese Counter.

Pairing cheese with wine or beer is an age old excercise and everybody has an opinion. First of all, there are no wrong answers. It is all about what you like. There is no sense in buying a cheese that you don't like because "an expert" said that it is the best match. The perfect match is the wine/beer you like and the cheese you like! But we will hope to give you a few guidelines and ideas to start your journey through the matching process. Join us each week for a new match.

Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue is a raw Cow's milk cheese from Vermont. Jasper Hill is another great American Artisan cheese producer and their Bayley Hazen Blue is one of the best blues made -- click here to read more about the cheese

Wine: To match with these great blue cheeses, we are going to do the classic pairing -- port:Forsyth: Taylor Fladgate 10 year PortBallwin: Taylor Fladgate 10 year PortRock Hill: Taylor Fladgate 10yr Port

Beer: With these hearty blues, we are going to match it with a delicious, caramel tinged stout from Bells.Forsyth: Bells Kalamazoo StoutBallwin: Bells Kalamazoo StoutRock Hill: Bells Kalamazoo Stout

Extra info about the beerBells Kalamazoo Stout....$10.49 / 6pk"Kalamazoo Stout represents stouts in the Bell's year-round roster, offering a blend of dark chocolate and coffee flavors with just a hint of brewer's licorice. One of our oldest recipes, it balances a significant hop presence against the roast malt body." -- Bells BreweryRated 100 on RateBeer

"A great wine in the making, the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (just under 10,000 cases produced) possesses a fragrant bouquet of sweet black currants, crushed rocks, earth and background oak. Full-bodied and dense, with Montelena’s typical power, tannin and reserved nature, this is a big, rich, formidably endowed red that requires 4-5 years of cellaring. That in itself is atypical of this exuberant, flamboyant vintage. Given this cuvee’s past history, this 2007 should age for 30+ years."

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Glenmorangie Finealta........$65.99ABV: 46% Non chill-filtered"Glenmorangie Finealta is a painstaking recreation of a recipe dating back to 1903. Matured in a combination of American white oak casks and Spanish Oloroso sherry casks this whisky is unusual for its light touch of peatiness - a reminder of a time when Glenmorangie dried its barley in a peat fired kiln. Distillery archives show that at this time, Glenmorangie Highland Single Malt was being served at The Savoy in London. Making this whisky a window onto a grander age, where optimistic young souls toasted sweeping changes within Art, fashion, and technology. And where society demanded a drink of both depth and distinction. Glenmorangie Finealta is the second release in our prestigious Private Edition range: carefully selected, limited edition whiskies chosen from the 'cabinet of curiosities' of Dr Bill Lumsden, head of our Whisky Creation Team." -- Glenmorangie

Bottled February 1st!Bells Two Hearted Ale....$9.99 / 6pk"Two Hearted Ale is defined by its intense hop aroma and malt balance. Hopped exclusively with the Centennial hop varietal from the Pacific Northwest, massive additions in the kettle and again in the fermenter lend their characteristic grapefruit and pine resin aromas. A significant malt body balances this hop presence; together with the signature fruity aromas of Bell's house yeast, this leads to a remarkably drinkable American-style India Pale Ale." -- Bells

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

2005 Domaine du Pegau "Cuvee Laurence"....$149.99 750ml2005 Domaine du Pegau "Cuvee Laurence"....$319.99 Magnum"The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Laurence appears to be the finest example of this wine since the 1998. Wonderfully rich, concentrated notes of roasted Provencal herbs, jammy black cherries, new saddle leather, and loamy soil are present in this stunningly rich, full-bodied wine. With excellent concentration, moderate tannin, and fabulous length as well as intensity, it should be released in 2009-2010, and will keep for 20-25 years."Rated 95-97/100 The Wine Advocate

2008 Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve...$59.99"The 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee was about to be bottled at the time of my visit, and it will certainly be one of the better wines of the vintage. By the standards of Pegau, it is not a massive wine nor will it be terribly long-lived. However, this estate has an incredible track record in off years, so I would not be surprised to see this wine exceeding readers’ expectations in 10-12 years. Tasting through the three remaining lots that will be blended together, I rated them between 89 and 92. That makes it one of the better wines of the vintage. Medium to full-bodied, chewy and very evolved, the wine exhibits lots of earth, lavender and foresty/mossy notes intermixed with kirsch, peppery black currants and Christmas fruitcake spices. It should drink nicely for 10-12+ years. Laurence calls it a very “traditional” style that she believes will be as good as their 2006."Rated 89-91/100 The Wine AdvocateAvailable online -- click here

Bayley Hazen Blue is a natural rinded blue cheese. It is made with whole raw milk every other day, primarily with morning milk, which is lower in fat. Ayrshire milk is particularly well suited to the production of blue cheese because of its small fat globules, which are easily broken down during the aging process. The paste of a Bayley Hazen is drier than most blues and the penicillium roqueforti takes a back seat to an array of flavors that hint at nuts and grasses and in the odd batch, licorice. Though drier and crumblier than most blues, its texture reminds one of chocolate and butter. It is aged between 4 and 6 months. We developed this recipe by starting with a Devon Blue recipe, changing its shape, and altering the aging process to end up with a stable rind that will hold up under typical retail conditions.

Bayley Hazen is named after an old military road that traverses the Northeast Kingdom. The road, commissioned by General George Washington was built to carry troops to fight the English on a Canadian front. Though no battle ever took place, the road brought Greensboro its first settlers and continues to be used.

"In 1895 the brewery was modernized to the technology of the time. The steam engine, which still runs the brewing process to this day, was installed....and are now the only brewery in Europe that still brews with steam powered equipment." -- importer